State of Michigan Retirement System Raises Holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)

State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 138,027 shares of the mining company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs were worth $3,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Perigon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter valued at about $839,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter worth about $2,188,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 108.7% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 343,465 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $5,368,000 after acquiring an additional 178,864 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 626,207 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $12,787,000 after acquiring an additional 72,185 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLF opened at $15.64 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.94. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a one year low of $13.84 and a one year high of $22.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 1.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.11) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, April 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the mining company to purchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on CLF shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Monday, May 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom purchased 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $425,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 59,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,300. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves bought 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.76 per share, with a total value of $1,005,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,759,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,242,331.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 59,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,300. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 98,950 shares of company stock worth $1,639,638. 1.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cleveland-Cliffs Profile

Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. The company is vertically integrated from mining through iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and downstream with hot and cold stamping of steel parts and components. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc in August 2017.